Elevator table



Dec. 14, 1954 J. v. HILL 0 ELEVATOR TABLE Filed May 14, 1951 Y 1 2 Sheets- -Sheet 1 John V. 'H/l/ 98 85 INVENTOR.

Dec. 14, 1954 v, 2,696,970

' ELEVATOR TABLE Filed May 14, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 2

Fig. 4

log 1/6 20 22 //4 John M Hill INVENTOR.

B? ww am United States Patent O ELEVATORTA'BLE John" v: Hilh'EosAngelni-Califi ApplicationaMay 1'14, L95:1-,.Serial No. 226,244. siclaimsiv chasm-9 invention. comprises novel; and useful improvements.in.an.elevator table, and morespec'ifi'cally pertains. toa vertically. adjustable. appliance, adapted. to be :rolld under. an; automobile and. elevated. to supportthe. trans: mission..case;orv other parts.- oflthe vehicleto facilitatezthe. handling;andsremovalsof-qthesameh Therprimary object. otthisinvention is tdprovide a.

mobile. elevator; table, which. may be. readily; raised or lowered and-which shall. be. oi. a. sufficient. size/and. construction to enable. the samezto be employed. beneath-motor. vehiclesyforraising, and; lowering. transmission; cases.

objects inf-,the; invention, which iwillilater: become apparent: as. the followinggdescriptidn proceeds areaattainedahy; the:

present: invention,, apreierred embodiment; of which; has.

been illustrated, by. way' of example 011135. in; the: aecomv- {tallying-drawings wherein::

. Figure- 1. i'saa siderelevationalaview; of. onerembodimentt of. apparatus in: accordancewith this-invention, thessamebeingshowmin sits: collapsed or. folded positiomiinfullklines1 and. in its; elevatedtor; operativewposition, in dotted: lines;

Figure 2 is a top plan vievw of-ith'e:apparatuseofi-Eigpre.

1, the top tray or platform being removed therefrom, certain parts: heinggshown. in :horizontal'. sectional; view;

Figure 3 is..a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially upomthe 'planeindicatedby'tiie section line 3-3 :ofrEigure 2, the device being, shown in its collapsed position;

Figure. 4. is, a vertical. transverse: sectional detaillview taken substantially, uponthe. plane. indicated by: 16:830- tion-=line-;4-4;of Eigurelaand Eigures; Sand. 6. are perspective views of twobeams forming part. of the, carriage. of. the-adjusting mechanism ofz'the invention.

Referringmow more. specifically; to. the accompanying drawings;v wherein like numerals. designate similar. parts throughout the variousviews itwilLbe seen that the device consists essentially" of a tray-like mobile base 10 whichsmay be provided with castorxrollers or the like:12,. together withsautrav-like. 13131101111 14: and an adjustable connectinglinkage. between, thev platform and; tray..- for vertically adjusting the former with respect to the latter.

Adjacent each of its four corners, the tray 14 upon its undersurface is provided with depending lugs 16 while similarly positioned upstanding lugs 18 are appropriately positioned upon the top surface of the base 10. These lugs are pivotally connected to the above mentioned operating linkage whereby the platform is adjustably connected to the base.

As will be now better understood, sets of articulated or hinged legs are provided connecting the sets of complementary lugs 16 and 18. Each of the articulate or hinged legs is disposed in a plane which is parallel to those of the other legs. The two legs upon each side of the device, at what may be termed the front and back corners of 'the same,,are=disposedlmore. cl'osely adjacent to each. other. than. they aretoj the two. legsupon the: other side of. thedevieev I It willlzb'e. readily, understood;thattlie.1eg,.asseml51ies.ib1i the two s-idesot the device anebfiidentical;constructihri; so that a description of one willjbeasuificientfor an under.- standing of, the/other. Referring, .therefore, more:par ti'cularly toEfgures ll. and22,',it WilLbe seen: that. each-.siichleg, assembly comprisesa forward. legiandl area-r-ward: 1eg,.theforwardl'egconsisting. ofluppen and lower legqmembe'rsifliand. 22 which. have their adjacent ends. hinged to each. other. as. set forthahereinatter,andwhicli have-their. oppositeends pivoted,',as-at 24,; and 26' to-the. lugs 16:andl 181 of the. plattornt and" base. respectively.- at. the. fronts ends thereof; Similarly the. rearward leg assembly. includes" upperand.lo.wer leg membersZS. 312M430. having their. ad jacent. ends hinged pivotally to: each other. as set forth: hereinaften, and having ,the.opposite-ends pivoted;as.at.321' and.3.4 to-the=upper and lower: lugs. l-6rand 18. oftthe plat1- form and basefrespectivelyh Theirontandrean leg zassemblies. oiv each side are so -disposed than-their. hingedlyconnected endssoverlap each; other; asshow-n in.-Eigure l... ltwill now be apparent. from Figurel. thatl asstheupper. and. loweizleg, membersofi each.- of the hinged. legs: are. moved towardastraight-line position, the platform 14 willi be elevatedv or: raised. with. respect. to. the base? h0;-.until= such timesas the legsmemberstare in.verticalfline .at-rwhichr time the platform will he at.itsmaximumelevatiom. Aleternatively, as the (leg; members-are.movediawayfromthis; vertical straightline position .the:platform.will.be lowered with. respect .to the base untilzsuchrtiineas the legmembers. are: completely. foldeclrupon themselves, as.- shown. in: full, lines. in E-igure 1,,v and in Eigurediat which": tirne thev platform. will .be. at its-most collapsed. or loweredrpositionh Each. of: the. hingedlegs. is.- provided with a bracing. construction. Thus,, az-pair; of. links; on braces 36. and 38 have .their; opposite ends: pivoted;, as at 40) and 42;, respect 1 tively, with the. intermediate: portions of. thesupper and lower leg,,.member-s. 20 and.2.2,,andhave:- their: adjacent. ends pivoted tojeachaotherasset-forth hereinafter.. Sirmilar-ly,. corresponding ;braces- 44: and46 are providedfor. the rear leg assemblies, these braces having their opposite: endsspivotediintermediate theends of the-uppenand-lower leg members s28-and. 30-as at!4srandt5fl respectively, while.- the adjacent ends of the: braces are. pivoted to each other? asset-forthhereinaften- The above: described construction is, of course,-. duplia catedupon both: sides-of-z the =device,-. as will; be readily) understood from Figures 2 and 3.

The; various pivotal. connections: or; thesuppert andlower leg members and ot'. the. adgacenttendsi Ofitlle braces are: secured. to ran-adjusting,mechanismwherebv. alliof the .leg: members:v and hraces will. be: simultaneously, operated: to l evenly. distribute: the loadsduring; the; raising; .or; lowering of. the-platform withzrespect'tonhe. base:. 'thisaoperating mechanism. includes: a carriage? which is mounted: upon: the.- pivotahconnectionsmf: the legmembers-and-bracesitor; vertical movement therewith during operationtofi thtxsamen As shown. in Figures 5;. 6: and: F1gure=2 the-carriage: includes a pair or rigid beams 52 and 54. The beam\5'2-. WlllGl'l: may be termed: the: head: beam of. the carriage? is provided at. each end: withia pair-oflilaterallyi extendirrge parallel. brackets 56,-. Stband) 6d;- .62,1..thesei brackets. having: aligned. bores forrotatably; journaling;arcranloshattz 64;. as shown in Figure: 2, and KWhichtis: providedtwithia niansual. operatinghandle: 6'6; Upon: opposite: sides; the: hraeketsv 561 and: 6t), .tlfe: cranidshaft' .04 iscprovided: with? pairs 0t drivinggears: 68*, 7.0?and272p74. Theigears may. conveniently comprise beveled gears as shown and the gears of each pair are oppositely disposed.

The beam 52 is provided with pairs of bearing apertures '76, 78 and 80, 82. These tour bearing apertures rotatably journal, receive and retain the ends of four screw threaded adjusting shafts or adjusting rods 84, 86 and 88, 90, respectively.

The other beam 54 is provided with four bearing apertures 92, 94 and 96, 98 which similarly receive and journal the other ends of these four adjusting rods. The four ad ustlng rods thus serve to retain the beams 52 and 54 in a substantially rigid assembly with respect to each other, to form the ad usting carriage of the device.

The adjusting rods, upon their ends which extend through the journalcd apertures in the beam 52 are provided with beveled driven gears 101), 102 which respectively mesh with the driving gears 68 and 70, and 104, 106 which respectively mesh with the gears 72 and 74.

As will be readily seen from Figure 2, the arrangement of the driving and driven gears is such that the adjusting shafts 84 and 90 will be driven in the same direction while the adjusting shafts 86 and-88 will be driven in a reverse direction.

v Carrier nuts are internally threaded for traveling movement upon the adjusting rods, which carrier nuts are of substantially the same construction, one such nut being indicated in Figure 4. This carrier nut comprises a body portion 108 internally threaded for engagement upon one of the adjuster rods such as the rod 90, the nut having a laterally extending pivot pin 110 having an externally of spaced apart beams, a pair of adjacent, parallel, threaded rods journalled at each end of said beams and extending therebetween, traveling nuts on said rods, said extensible and collapsible means including sets of legs, the legs of each set being hinged together and to one of said traveling nuts at their adjacent ends and to said base and platform at their opposite ends, one traveling nut being V disposed on each of said rods.

threaded end portion 112 receiving a locking nut 114.

These carrier nuts and their pivot pins thus serve to pivotally connect the adjacent ends of the upper and lower leg members 20, 22 and 28, 30 and operatively connect them to their respective adjuster rods. The adjacent ends of the braces 36, 38 and 44, 46, in addition to being pivotally connected to one another, are also pivotally connected to the lugs 83 and 85, respectively,

on the carriage beams 52 and 54. As shown in Figure 4, suitable spacer members 116 may be provided upon the pivot pins 110 where needed to insure proper spacing of the various leg members and braces to permit the desired folding movement. As shown in Figures 5 and 6,

effect the desired raising and lowering of the platform by the folding or straightening of the articulated legs.

It will be appreciated that the platform 14 constituting a tray will serve to support a transmission case or other member and properly adjust the elevation of the same during the manipulation of the member by the mechanic. 1

In its folded position, the device may readily be moved under a vehicle, may then be erected to bear against the undersurface of the transmission casing, whereupon,

after the latter has been unbolted from the rest of the vehicle structure, the device may be lowered and the casing may be removed from beneath the vehicle for further handling.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary.- However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. An elevator table including an upper platform, a base, a carriage interposed between said base and said platform and extensible and collapsible means interconnecting said platform, base and carriage, said means maintaining said base, carriage and platform in close proximity to one another in collapsed position and in spaced apart relation to one another in extended position, said carriage comprising a rectangular frame including a pair 2. An elevator table comprising a mobile base, a platform, a carriage interposed between said base and platform, sets of legs, the legs of each set being hinged together and to said carriage at their adjacent ends and to said base and platform at their opposite ends, the hinged connections of said sets of legs being arranged for horizontal movement in vertically parallel paths, said carriage including means for causing pivoting movement of said sets of legs for raising and lowering said platform and carriage upon said base, each set of legs having a pair of braces terminally pivoted to said legs intermediate the ends of the latter and to each other and to said carriage at their adjacent ends, said means for causing pivoting movement including a plurality of rotatably journaled rods, the hinged connection between the legs of each set being operatively connected to one of said adjusting rods, said adjusting rods having driving gears, a manually operable crankshaft journaled on said carriage and having driving gears in mesh with the adjusting rod gears for simultaneous operation thereof whereby rotation of said adjusting rods moves the legs of each set from a position longitudinally closely adjacent to one another to a position wherein the legs are substantially axially aligned with one another.

3. An elevator table including an upper platform, a base, a carriage interposed between said base and said platform and extensible and collapsible means interconnecting said platform, base and carriage, said means maintaining said base, carriage and platform in close proximity to one another in collapsed position and in spaced apart relation to one another in extended position, said carriage comprising a rectangular frame including a pair of spaced apart beams, a pair of adjacent, parallel, threaded rods journaled at each end of said beams and extending therebetween, traveling nuts on said rods, said extensible and collapsible means including sets of legs, the legs of each set being hinged together and to one of said traveling nuts at their adjacent ends and to said base and platform at their opposite ends, one traveling nut being disposed on each of said rods, each set of legs having a pair of braces terminally pivoted thereto intermediate the ends of the legs and the free ends of the braces of each pair of braces being pivoted to each other and to one of said beams.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 572,244 Chazotte Dec. 1, 1896 740,398 Cheves Oct. 6, 1903 763,027 Scott June 21, 1904 1,071,299 Cooper Aug. 26, 1913 1,544,997 Lawrence et a1. July 7, 1925 1,885,170 Anderson Nov. 1, 1932 2,086,255 Cashier et al July 6, 1937 2,430,179 Lanchester Nov. 4, 1937 2,471,901 Ross May 31, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 511,835 Germany Nov. 4, 1930 744,762 France Jan. 26, 1944 

